Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

Boasting one of the most successful M&A practices in Japan, Morrison & Foerster frequently gets mandated by IT, telecommunications and media (TMT) companies for their corporate transactions. This has enabled the firm to stay on the top tier for another ... [more]

Boasting one of the most successful M&A practices in Japan, Morrison & Foerster frequently gets mandated by IT, telecommunications and media (TMT) companies for their corporate transactions. This has enabled the firm to stay on the top tier for another year. Companies like Panasonic, Hitachi, Nikon and Yahoo! Japan comprise an enviable client list. Some of the firm’s highlights in the past year include advising NTT Data on its US$1.2 billion acquisition of global IT services firm Keane, and representing Fujitsu in acquiring Toshiba’s cell phone business. The latter resulted in the creation of Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications, Japan’s second largest cell phone manufacturer.

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Nishimura & Asahi can count Microsoft, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation, GMO Internet and online shopping website Kakaku.com as some of its active clients. The firm moves up a tier in the rankings this year, having completed some impressive work ... [more]

Nishimura & Asahi can count Microsoft, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation, GMO Internet and online shopping website Kakaku.com as some of its active clients. The firm moves up a tier in the rankings this year, having completed some impressive work for an impressive list of clients. Lead partner Yoshiyuki Miyashita is noted by peers as having a large share of media deals in the market. The firm is also active in publishing articles and recent article topics include cloud computing and content protection.

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Anderson Mori & Tomotsune is a stable presence in the TMT industry with its full service offering. Partner Tsutomu Miyano is singled out for praise by a competitor. Another active TMT practitioner in the firm, Taro Tsunaoda, led a firm team acting as ... [more]

Anderson Mori & Tomotsune is a stable presence in the TMT industry with its full service offering. Partner Tsutomu Miyano is singled out for praise by a competitor. Another active TMT practitioner in the firm, Taro Tsunaoda, led a firm team acting as Japanese counsel to VeriSign on the US$1.28 billion sale of its identity and authentication service business to Symantec. The deal involved the application of business transfer exceptions under mandatory tender offer rules, antitrust issues, as well as the off market transfer of shares of a listed company.

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Davis Polk & Wardwell’s highly successful capital markets and M&A practices in Japan mean that the firm often gets involved in deals in the TMT sector. One highlight transaction over the past 12 months was its representation of several financial institutions ... [more]

Davis Polk & Wardwell’s highly successful capital markets and M&A practices in Japan mean that the firm often gets involved in deals in the TMT sector. One highlight transaction over the past 12 months was its representation of several financial institutions as representatives of the initial purchasers in the high yield note offering of eAccess. This was the first high yield debt offering on a global basis in Japan.

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New to the rankings this year, Baker & McKenzie has a growing TMT practice under the leadership of Yasunori Hashiguchi. The team’s rising profile has been acknowledged by clients, and was kept occupied this year on a number of matters relating to recent ... [more]

New to the rankings this year, Baker & McKenzie has a growing TMT practice under the leadership of Yasunori Hashiguchi. The team’s rising profile has been acknowledged by clients, and was kept occupied this year on a number of matters relating to recent regulatory changes in Japan. One notable matter saw it assist Skype in negotiating with the Ministry of Affairs and Communications to confirm compliance with a new law that deals with payment methods using an e-money system.

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